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Strasbourg Round Up - Latest
November 2008
Gary standing down....Financial crisis
Labour’s longest serving Leader in Europe, Gary Titley, sent shockwaves through the Parliament at this month’s plenary session when he announced that he would be vacating the leadership in January. He told his Labour colleagues that he felt it was “important to stand aside at the end of the year in order to give a new Leader time to prepare for the all important European elections.” Gary said: “Over the more than six years I have served as leader, I have watched the UK become increasingly influential in Europe. It has been a tremendous opportunity and an honour to fight for British people on the issues that affect their lives.” Adding his tribute, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “I want to thank Gary for his contribution to European politics. Over the last six years he has done a brilliant job representing Britain and Labour in the European Parliament. And as EPLP Leader he has been a great support to me and the whole of the Labour Party.”
Financial crisis
With the real impact of the financial crisis now being felt in households right across Europe, MEPs yet again turned their attention to what can be done to ease the pain for hard-working people in these tough times. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso reported back on the G-20 summit in Washington that took place just before the Strasbourg plenary. President Barroso said that the summit had underlined the need to work collectively and to take a global approach. Parties from all sides had agreed that the crisis had resulted from poor regulation and a lack of market transparency. These issues would need to be addressed to avoid a similar crisis arising again in the future. Speaking after the debate, Gary said: “While playing the blame game isn’t always helpful, we do need to look at where things went wrong and make sure we put them right.”
Free fruit and vegetables in schools
This month in Strasbourg, MEPs voted to give free fruit and vegetables to school children, in a bid to tackle the increasing problem of child obesity. The scheme has been modelled on the successful Free School Fruit Scheme in the UK. The new EU plan will make it possible to extend the UK scheme to a larger age group, whilst children across the EU will now benefit for the first time. Recent studies have highlighted a dramatic increase in obesity among schoolchildren with an estimated 5 million now obese in the EU. Gary said: “If we’re going to tackle obesity, we need to promote good eating habits from an early age. Children from deprived areas are particularly at risk, which is why it’s great that this scheme is taking off across the EU.”
Farm policy health check
Labour MEPs have been fighting for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for years. That is why they welcomed the CAP health check as an opportunity to make some much needed progress, but unfortunately, this month in Strasbourg, MEPs from other countries were dragging their heels. That prompted North West MEP and Labour’s agriculture spokesman, Brian Simpson, to speak out against their proposals, complaining they were too weak. Instead of focusing on rural sustainability and environmental protection, which is what Labour wants, some MEPs voted to reduce direct payments to farmers by 7% instead of the 13% proposed by the European Commission. Commenting after the debate, Gary said: “Sticking with the old system of direct subsidies, which has helped to keep food prices artificially high, is no good for anyone. Let’s just hope that in four years’ time, when the CAP is up for change again, the European Parliament will be much more radical.”
Blue card system for highly skilled migrants
Whilst many parts of the economy are suffering serious job losses, due to the financial crisis, some businesses are still growing and experiencing skills shortages. To tackle the problem, MEPs backed plans for an EU ‘Blue Card’ scheme for migrant labour. The scheme, which is based on the US ‘Green Card’, sets out a clear framework with more precise eligibility requirements for highly skilled migrants, while providing important safeguards to the indigenous workforce. Any applicant must have a job offer and at least five years’ relevant experience or a recognised university qualification. The contract must also guarantee an income of at least 1.7 the average salary in the member state of residence and the salary cannot be lower than that of a comparable worker in the host country. Blue card holders will also be entitled to social welfare provision and to bring over family members. For its part, the UK government has opted out of the EU scheme because its own points-based system is better equipped to carefully match the qualifications of would-be migrants with labour market shortages.
Tories turning towards Europe?
In an interesting twist of fate for David Cameron, Tory MEPs voted for a new Leader, Deputy Leader and Chief Whip in Strasbourg this month. Ironically all three of the old Eurosceptic team were booted out, to be replaced by their more Euro-friendly counterparts, Timothy Kirkhope, Richard Ashworth and Sir Robert Atkins. Kirkhope wrote an “alternative” Lisbon Treaty, which contained most of the same important bits as the real one, while Sir Robert has publicly opposed David Cameron’s policy to withdraw from the centre-right group in the Europan Parliament, the EPP. Hot on the heels of the Den Dover expenses scandal, where the North West MEP was kicked out of the party after being ordered to pay back £500,000 to the Parliament, it looks as if David Cameron’s MEPs may be much harder for him to handle than he first envisaged.
And Finally
… I’m an MEP, I shouldn’t be here Robert Kilroy-Silk must be a man with a cunning plan. The perma-tanned ex-UKIP MEP must have realised that, without his former party, he’s going to struggle to get the votes he needs to get re-elected in next June’s European Elections. By signing on to the popular TV show, ‘I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here’, he’s clearly trying to raise his public profile. Sadly, though, it will be more than a little difficult for him to serve his East Midlands constituents whilst stranded in a jungle….
Gary Titley MEP
November 2008
